All bets off as Alexander waits for a challenger

Labour leader-in-waiting Wendy Alexander won't know until tonight whether she will run unopposed for the party's top job.

Although she is almost certain to win any leadership contest, the left of the party is concerned that the appointment of a new Holyrood captain is at least seen to be democratic and all the relevant issues aired.

Members of the party's Campaign for Socialism group are due to hold a meeting today to debate the leadership succession, following the resignation of Scotland's Labour leader Jack McConnell last week, and there is little doubt that Alexander will be the first woman Labour leader.

Yesterday bookmakers William Hill ended bets on who will be the next leader.

Initially the high street chain had installed Alexander as 1/7 favourite to take over the top job and offered 4/1 on Andy Kerr and 12/1 on Margaret Curran. However, with no sign of a genuine challenger coming forward, all bets were called off.

'It looks very much as though she will accede to the job unopposed, so until and unless a real contender comes forward to take her on we are suspending the betting,' said Hill's spokesman, Graham Sharpe.

Even if a last-minute challenger does step forward, the result of any election is already being touted by Alexander's supporters as a fait accompli.

It is understood that at least 35 of Labour's 46 MSPs have already pledged support for Alexander, many of them even before she announced that she was standing.

Two people who were thought to have presented the greatest challenge to an Alexander leadership bid, former ministers Tom McCabe and Curran, have already stated they will be backing her.

Only a coterie of socialist MSPs believe that there should be a challenge in the interests of democracy, even though they acknowledge there is only one likely outcome of any contest. 'We do need a challenge within the party; I don't think the Labour Party sits well with coronations,' said Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston.

Smith and other members of the Campaign for Socialism, including MSPs Bill Butler, Marlyn Glen, Cathy Peattie and Patricia Ferguson, are due to meet this afternoon to discuss the possibility of backing an alternative candidate.

However, any possible contender would have to be nominated by six MSPs and the Campaign for Socialism has only five members.

If, as expected, Alexander is unopposed, the process could take up to a month before she is confirmed as leader. If a challenger emerges it could take as long as two months.

Alexander has promised a review of the party and its structure if she is appointed leader.

'I want to see a new structure for Scottish Labour, signalling a party that takes more responsibility for itself,' Alexander told party activists and fellow MSPs, including McCabe, her campaign manager Pauline McNeill, Iain Gray, Charles Gordon and Rhona Brankin.